Spike-fastening means.



Patented 0G13. 27,- 1914.

H.. KIRK. SPIKE FASTBNING MEANS.

. PPLIGATION FILED AUG. 31 1,1 1 5 543s.

1` ...JM/.ll 1 *A 1. M t .L ,.1 1. H

@vi/Immo@ anew,

THE MORRIS PETjERs C0., PHOTU-LITHJ.. WASHINGTON. D. c

"CNrrEn sTAWENT @WWE LAURENCE HUsToN KIRK, oEHAvRE DE GRACE, MARYLAND, AssIeNoR To GCRRELL sTEEL sri-KE LoCR RAILROAD TIE CORPORATION, or HAVRE y:DE GRACE, MARY- LAND, A CORPORATION OF MARYLAND.

SPIKE-FASTENING MEANS.

speciaeauon of Letters ratera Fmg-mega Oct, 27, 191g i i Application filed August 31, 1914. Serial No. 859,513.

To aZZ whom 'it-may concern:

Be it known that I, LAURENCE II. K1RK, a citizen of the United States, residing at 'Havre de grace, in the county of Harford and State of Maryland, have invented `cer-' tain new and useful Improvements in Spike' parallel members spaced apart vto admit a spike, nail or other driven fastening, said members being connected in parallelism by transverse bolts or rivets which areV arranged in staggered relation and whose inner surfaces form the walls of a tortuous passage way into which the spike is driven and by which it is distorted and its opposite walls given a sinuous or wavy form, andthe inner walls of said'members being, if desired, pro- 'vided vwith bosses each of which is adapted to indent or` press into one side of the spike to thereby displace the metal on the opposite side and form a projection which seats against the inner wall of one vof the parallel members whereby the space between the in- `ner walls of said parallel members and the corresponding walls of the spike may be so completely filled that lateral vibration of the spike is prevented and irregularities and variableness in the width 0f the space between the inner sides ofv said parallel members 'is compensated for without requiring the employment lof separate ller pieces. A further object4 of my invention is to provide a device of the type described, which may be cheaply made Aand, which will be found effective as a nail or spike grip in attaching one piece to'another; n

With the above and other objects in view my invention consists of the parts, yconstructions, arrangements and combinationsv of parts whichI'will hereinafter describe and claim.

In the accompanyingdrawings `forming part of this specification and in which similar reference characters indicate like parts in the several views ,-Figure 1 is a sectional perspective view showing the application of my invention to a railway tie, or the like.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view.` Fig.

4 is a modification hereinafter described.

As the purpose of my invention is to pro-y vide a means whereby a spike, nail' or equivalent part may be lockedfwhen driven into position, "in a part having an opening7 or passageway prepared for it, it will be appar-k ent that the invention will be found v`useful in various arts; it may, for instance,"be used to advantage in the construction .ofy rail- I ways as providing an effective meansffor securing a rail to a metallic tie. The 'invention may also be used in building constructions, for securing furring strips, or metal lathing, oras a means for suspending devices or articles of any character from .a iiXedsupport. It will be understood, therefore, that my invention has more or less general application and that it is not limited A f in its use to any particular field.

In Fig. `l I have shown for illustrative purposes the application of my improvement to a railway tie. In this instance, the

tie comprises two parallel members, A and B, formed of channel-iron, or the like,and "5P which members are held in fixed spaced relation by means of suitable rivets, C, and

spacing sleeves, D, on said rivets. The up-` per surfaces of the members, A andl B, may

form a Seat for the ordinary railway rail,

E, and which rail may be secured to the upper flanges of the parts, A and B, by any suitable means. In lFig. l, I show theeaforesaid flanges as being slitted yand, provided with'outturned tongues, F. which areadapted to embrace and secure `the base ianges of the rail. It will be understood, however, that other well known means may be adopted for seating the tie properly upon the` rail. position by the spike, Gr, ywhich spike is normally straight, but isv adapted to be so distorted during the `driving operation as to The'rail, E, may bel ,secured in its form an effective llock [between itself and y y the tie.

Thepresent invention relates to a specific means for distorting the spike simultaneously with the driving of the same, andto this end I employsuitable rivets,@IrI, which are passed through the parallel members,

A and B, of the tie or other part and thence suitably headed, said rivets, H, being, ar ranged in staggered or alternating relation, whereby atortuous passage is formed between the inner sides of the group of rivets forming the guideway or passage for the s oike.

1The spike or nail, whatever its particular cross-sectional shape, is normally substantially straight, but in the driving of the same this shape is designed to be simultaneously altered and certain of the opposite walls of the spike or nail are designed to be given a serpentine or sinuous form whereby the now substantially Zig-Zag spike becomes locked in the guideway formed by the group of staggered rivets, without the aid of other and supplemental fastenings.

.In operation, the point of the nail is 1 ntroduced into the space between the parallel members, A and B, forming the tie, in Fig.

1, andas the point of the nailsuccessively engages the ystaggered rivets or bolts it is deflectedfirst .to one side and .then the other, while the. body of the spike is correspondingly curved, first in one direction and then in the other, as it is driven past and in contact with the inner surfaces yof ,the rivets, so that when the spike is finally driven home, it willhave had imparted to it a substantially serpentine form. The rivets also afford bearing points of substantial area at differ- -ent points in the length of the spike and` "also give a positive or shoulder grip under the rivets, or the spacing sleeves thereon, by reasonof the zig-zag course kin which the spike is forced to .travel while being `driven f ully to its seat, said ,spikegbeing securely .retained in place by the aforesaid distortion Without requiring the use of supplemental fastenings. The 'staggered rivets also have the function of yagain straightening the spike when the same is withdrawn.

As there is likely to be some variableness in the width of the opening between the parallel members, A and B, and as the crosssectional diameter of the nail or spike may not accord in all instances with the crosssectional diameter of said space or opening, there will be afforded opportunity for lateral vibration of the spike after it has been driven into place, and to compensate for this irregularity or variableness and to secure the yspike so that all possibility of transversevibration may be avoided, I provide on the inner surfaces of the parallel members, A and B, suitable bosses, I, which may be represented by the heads of rivets and which are alternately 'disposed on the inner opposite walls of the members, A and B, and which bosses are also designed to distort the spike while the same is beingdriven into and through the tortuous passageway formed by the staggered rivets, H. By al- .ter-Hating .the bosses, I, and not having them disposed diametrically opposite each other, depressions, J, are formed in one side of the spike and corresponding projections, K, are offset from the opposite side for the purpose of filling any remaining space between the sides of the spike andthe inner walls o f the parallel members, A and Bwhereby the spike is made to clearly lit theV 'space between said members transversely and the spike is thus prevented from having any lateral orA transverse vibration or movement and which movementy is objectionable 'especially when the .spike is used for securing a railway rail to a metal tie, or rail, where one part is designed to be so rigidly secured .to another that lateral vibration would be a detriment. l

To reduce 'the friction as much as possible due to the driving .of the nail past the staggered rivets, I may provide the rivets with loose sleeves, L, vwhich also serve as :a means for holding the members, A and B, in parallel spaced relation.

The construction before specified will also be found useful as a means for lsecuring vfurring strips or metal lathing in ceiling floor construction o r for suspending anydevice from a fixed Asupport above. In this instance, the members, A and B', may represent a beam, as in Fig. 4l, formed of parallel'` members v.connected by rivets, as before described, and the head of the spike may be ,1. employed for securing a kfurring or` other piece, M, of whatever character; or the 'head maq Abe made inthe yform of a hook', N, which will be found useful kin suspending articles from the beam, which may represent any fixed support.

Various changes the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the' principle, or sacrificing ,any of the advantages of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A support formed of ,parallel spaced members, having a group of lrivets extending transversely therethrough, and arranged in staggered lrelation to form va tortuous passage through' which a driven .member may be forced andsimultaneously distorted and given substantially a sinuous form.l

2. A support formed of parallel spaced members, having a group of rivets extending transversely therethrough and arranged in staggered lrelation lto form `a tortuous passage through whicha driven member may be forced and simultaneously distorted and given substantially a sinuous forni, and spacing sleeves loosely Vmounted on said rivets and directly engaged ,by said driven member.

3. A support `formed of parallel rspaced members having` a group of rivets ,extending transversely therethrough and arranged in staggered relation to form a tortuous passage through which a driven member may be forced and simultaneously distorted and given substantially a sinuous form, said members having bosses on their inner opposed surfaces, arranged in alternating relation and adapted to distort the driven member transversely during the driving thereof,

and form proj eotions which engage the inner lo y Copies of this patent may 'be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. l 

